Jharkhand State Housing Board (JSHB) has begun constructing boundary walls around vacant land owned by it in capital Ranchi to keep encroachers at bay.

The government body, which provides houses to the needy on a no-profit-no-loss basis, had started the work a week ago.

Chief engineer of the housing board Neelmani Tirkey said the step to construct boundary walls was the need of the hour. "Encroachment of government land is emerging as major problem. The board, therefore, has taken the step to save its land from encroachment by constructing boundary walls," he said.

Boundary walls are being constructed around land located in five places - four in Harmu Housing Colony and one at Bariatu Housing Colony.

The plots in Harmu include a 1.03 acre adjacent to Panch Mandir and a vegetable market, a 0.37 acre at Harmu Bazar used for running cowshed and dumping waste from meat and fish shops nearby, another 1.40 acre beside power substation, which is also used for dumping garbage and 5.41 acre near Allahabad Bank, which local tribals use for grazing cattle and sometimes for growing paddy. The land at Bariatu is one acre near staff quarters of Ranchi University.

A board official said around Rs 1.5 crore was being spent for the construction of boundary walls. "The work is likely to be completed by November. Once the work in Ranchi is over, steps will be taken to protect land that have been encroached upon in Dhanbad, Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur," the official added.

A section of Harmu colony residents have, however, raised objections to the construction of boundary walls.

Councillor of ward 29 and Harmu resident Pradeep Agrawal said the construction of a wall adjacent to Panch Mandir would prevent residents from using a public well situated near the temple."I have requested the board to construct the wall in such a way that the well remains accessible to the residents," he said.

One of vendors at Harmu Bazaar said: "If the wall comes up near Panch Mandir, the market would shrink in size. This will lead to congestion in the market.

A board official, however, said a three-storey building had been constructed for vendors behind Panch Mandir. "It is not justified to trade on the housing board's land without paying rent," the official said.